The Major Oak is an
enormous tree that stands in the middle of the
Sherwood Forest County Park. It's claim to
fame is that its hollowed-out
bough reportedly once sheltered
Robin Hood and his Merry Men from all sorts of nasty
villains like the Sheriff of
Nottingham.
The tree itself is reported to be from 800-1000 years old. It has an estimated weight of 23 tons and a girth of 33 feet. At its largest point the canopy of the Oak measures 93 feet around, and because of its huge branches, it needs a little help holding them up in the form of supporting logs.
Because of the sheer mass of the tree, there are no trees growing anywhere around it. Several theories surrounding the origin of the tree exist. One of them is that the tree started out as two or more individual trees that somehow "grew together".
A good picture of the Major Oak can be found at http://www.nottinghamshiretourism.co.uk/images/popup/forest/majoroak.jpg